Last updated: October 2026 · Method: desk research across published sources and visitor reports; nothing first-hand, confirm locally.
📄 Image slot: namkeen heat levels detailed with spice grade markers and markets.
The namkeen market grades its heat deliberately: a mild family tier, a standard local grade that is the city’s own reference point, and milder export calibration for distant palates. The grades are visible on the packs once you know the markers, and tasting against the street-counter default is the fastest way to calibrate your own scale.
Behind the heat guide sit the grades themselves, along with the markets that sell them.
The detail
- The markers: the pack colours and labels the brands use.
- The street-counter default is the local grade, and it makes the honest reference heat.
- The export grade: the export calibration, milder than what the city buys.
Reading the grades
- The brand markers do most of the signalling: pack colour and label wording track the grade reliably within each house, though not across houses, so compare inside a brand first.
- The street-counter default is the honest reference heat, because it is what local customers have accepted for decades.
- The export calibration is milder by design, which is why gifts bought for overseas friends should start there rather than at the local grade.